Past Events

​ACO Artistic Director Derek Bermel leads a session on orchestration, exploring Steven Gerber’s article “Tricks of the Trade”

ACO Artistic Director Derek Bermel explores the basics of orchestration through the lens of composer Steven R. Gerber’s NewMusicBox article “Orchestration: Composers Reveal Tricks of the Trade.” Useful for composers new and old to orchestration, Bermel explores the staples of orchestration with various score examples.Twice Grammy-nominated composer and clarinetist Derek Bermel has become recognized as a dynamic and unconventional curator of concert series, via ACO’s concert season, SONiC Festival, Earshot Readings, and Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute. His honors include the Rome Prize, Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowships, Herb Alpert Award, and an Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.Attendance is free but registration is required. REGISTER NOW.

ACO President Melissa Ngan, entertainment attorney Ari Solotoff, and Director of Artistic Planning and Operations for the Richmond Symphony Jennifer Arnold answer questions regarding commissioning and consortia contracts for orchestral composers.Trained as a classical musician, Ari Solotoff is the Founder and Managing Attorney of Solotoff Law Group, PLLC, where he focuses his law practice on serving clients in entertainment and intellectual property law, as well as related areas of business and nonprofit law practice. He represents leading musicians, composers, artists, literary authors, and other creative entrepreneurs from Portland, Maine, one of New England’s hottest destinations for music, creativity, and the arts.Jennifer Arnold is a native of North Royalton, Ohio. She was a violist in the Oregon Symphony for fifteen years. She holds a large teaching studio in Portland, OR, is former State Chapter President of the American String Teachers Association, and is a faculty member at the Sphinx Performance Academy. Arnold was the first Sphinx Diversity Fellow for the Sphinx Organization. She is Director of Artistic Planning and Operations for the Richmond Symphony.Attendance is free but registration is required. REGISTER NOW.

In-person tickets are currently SOLD OUT; please join us via livestream at this link.

The Apollo, CUNY School of Medicine, ACO, and National Black Theatre present Healing, Liberation and Joy: Mental Health and the Arts. Thought leaders and creatives will encourage community healing through honest conversations about trauma, its effects, and how to transmute those feelings into opportunities for introspection, creation, and celebration. Joy Williams, creator, host and producer of the Sunday Civics radio show and podcast, will co-host the event which will include artistic rituals for healing, music from Charisa the ViolinDiva and The Harlem Connection radio show Conductors; visual art from photographer and filmmaker Peter Cooper; “America’s Psychologist,” Dr. Jeff Gardere; licensed psychologist Dr. Shaakira Haywood Stewart, and interfaith minister and spiritual life coach Reverend Melissa Moorer-Nobles.

To submit questions to the panelists in advance, please use this link.

To learn more about The Gathering: A Collective Sonic Ring Shout on May 7, 2022, click here.

For a full listing of community events, click here.

Soprano and philanthropy expert Yolanda F. Johnson joins ACO President Melissa Ngan to give advice and tactics to bolster fundraising for small-to-medium ensembles.Yolanda F. Johnson has had an outstanding career as a performing artist and philanthropist; as a composer, as an educator, and as a supporter of the arts and women’s equity. In addition to her life as an artist, she is also a current International Advisory Board member of and the former Representative for the Foundation for Post-Conflict Development to the United Nations, a member of the board of directors of the Hudson River Museum, Special Advisor to the American Composers Orchestra, board of directors of PowHer NY, board of directors of the Lehman College Art Gallery and is the first African American President of Women In Development, New York. Johnson is also the Founder and President of YFJ Consulting, LLC and Founder of Women of Color in Fundraising and Philanthropy (WOC)® and Allies in Action Membership Network™.

Composer Dan Visconti joins ACO President Melissa Ngan to cover the nuts-and-bolts of the self-employed composer's back office, ranging from the best equipment and paper to use to best practices for maximizing passive income through sales and rentals.Composer Dan Visconti is updating the role of the classical musician for the 21st century as he creates new projects in collaboration with the community. For his ongoing initiatives to address social issues through music by reimagining the arts as a form of cultural and civic service, Visconti was awarded a 2014 TED Fellowship and delivered a TED talk at the conference’s thirtieth anniversary.

​Attendance is free, but registration is required. Register Now.

Sound artists and composers Mendi + Keith Obadike engage in a virtual conversation on their musical satellite RingShout, screen a companion video work, and discuss their music, art, and literature collaborations.

Presented by the National Black Theatre, Apollo Theater, and American Composers Orchestra as part of the Carnegie Hall Afrofuturism Festival.

ACO President Melissa Ngan joins New Music Gathering organizers Lainie Fefferman and Mary Kouyoumdjian to discuss the impact of collaboration and how music-makers can cultivate and nurture meaningful relationships with fellow artists.Melissa Ngan cultivates personal and organizational growth through creative acts and collaborative practices. She has over fifteen years of experience in civic practice-based program design; arts administration; diversity, equity, and inclusion practices; professional development and entrepreneurship in the arts; and as a professional flutist. Composer Lainie Fefferman’s most recent commissions have been from Tenth Intervention, So Percussion, Make Music NY, Experiments in Opera, ETHEL, Kathleen Supové, TILT Brass, James Moore, Eleonore Oppenheim, JACK Quartet, and Dither. Fefferman is the founder and co-director of Exapno, a New Music Community Center in Downtown Brooklyn. Mary Kouyoumdjian is a composer with projects ranging from concert works to multimedia collaborations and film scores. As a first generation Armenian-American and having come from a family directly affected by the Lebanese Civil War and Armenian Genocide, she uses a sonic palette that draws on her heritage, interest in music as documentary, and background in experimental composition to progressively blend the old with the new.

​Attendance is free, but registration is required.

Register Now: https://bit.ly/ACOProfDevCreativeRelationships

There is a rich tradition of Black composers, conductors, and musicians in classical music, from William Grant Still, Scott Joplin, and Florence Price to Marian Anderson and Jessye Norman.The Apollo, WQXR and ACO present Deep River: Black Currents in Classical Music, broadcast live from New York Public Radio’s The Greene Space. Howard Watkins, renowned pianist and assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera, curates a recital delving into the rich repertoire by Black American composers, featuring internationally acclaimed soprano Karen Slack and baritone Kenneth Overton. Following the performance, WNYC host Jami Floyd will lead a panel discussion with the performers and composer Carlos Simon, about the over 100-year tradition of Blacks as creators, conductors, and patrons of classical music.ProgramWilliam Grant Still (1895-1978) | Weeping AngelMr. OvertonWilliam Grant Still | Selections from Songs of Separation: --Idolatry--If I Should Go--Black PierrotMs. SlackMargaret Bonds (1913-1972) | Dream Variation from Three Dream PortraitsFlorence Price (1887-1953) | To My Little SonH. Leslie Adams (b.1932) | Love ResponseMr. OvertonTerence Blanchard (b.1962) | “Far Away Long Ago” from ChampionMs. SlackAdolphus Hailstork (b.1941) | My Heart to Thy HeartMr. OvertonUndine Smith Moore (1904-1989) | I Want to Die While You Love MeCarlos Simon (b.1965) | PrayerMs. SlackCarlos Simon Dead FiresMr. OvertonZenobia Powell Perry (1908-2004) | De Angels Done Bowed DownMs. Slackarr Timothy Amukele (b.1976) Stand the StormMr. Overtonarr Margaret Bonds You Can Tell the WorldMs. SlackTo learn more about The Gathering: A Collective Sonic Ring Shout on May 7, 2022, click here. For a full listing of community events, click here.

Out of an abundance of caution for our guests, performers & audience during the current COVID-19 surge, the in-person Uptown Hall event on 1/9 has been canceled. Please join us for the virtual broadcast on the Apollo Digital Stage Mon. 1/17 airing at 11am and 7pm ET. For more information, click here.The Apollo and WNYC present Uptown Hall: MLK – Activism, Athletics, and the Arts, which will include in a preview performance from Joel Thompson’s Seven Last Words of the Unarmed performed by The Gathering Quartet (Maria Antoinette Freeman, soprano; Tanya Tatum, alto; Ronald Smith, tenor; Victor Chapman, baritone) led from the piano by music director Gregory Hopkins, among many other performances and panel discussions with esteemed guests. The event will be broadcast online on the Apollo Digital Stage beginning on January 17.To learn more about The Gathering: A Collective Sonic Ring Shout on May 7, 2022, click here. For a full listing of community events, click here.

We usually try to ignore latency (the delay between live sound and transmitted sound) in virtual concerts...but what if it's an integral part of the music?

Join American Composers Orchestra and Groupmuse Foundation for a hybrid in-person and virtual concert featuring works by two composers who experiment with latency and technology in their music, and three interactive works through which we welcome one another into a collective landscape in which all sounds become music.Ray Lustig's Latency Canons calls for multiple string quartets and an orchestra to perform together while spread out across the world. Trevor New uses technology to manipulate latency for remote musicians in his newly commissioned work, Cohere. Pauline Oliveros' Environmental Dialogue invites us to hear and respond to sounds both within our own space and in those shared by participants near and far. All Possible Music by Chris Kallmyer is a collection of speculative scores that describe all of the music that could ever happen. A symphonious, surround-sound performance, Polyphonic Interlace by Raquel Acevedo Klein invites participants to travel amidst a sea of voices, emerging from several directions, as attendees are invited to play the piece's musical tracks from their smartphones.Audiences and performers alike will be dispersed and networked together in real time – American Composers Orchestra will perform at the DiMenna Center conducted by Peter Askim, the Bergamot Quartet will perform at the Murray Hill Groupmuse location, Ligeti Quartet and Alexandra Quartet from the United Kingdom, and seven soloists will participate from locations around the world, including:

1. Diego Tejedor, violin | Buenos Aires, Argentina
2. Bernd Keul, bass | Berlin, Germany
3. Raymond Seng’enge, violin | Tanzania
4. Gaurab Chatterjee, hand percussion | India
5. Jocelyn Clark, Gayageum | Korea
6. Patti Kilroy, violin | Los Angeles, California
7. Trevor New, viola | New York, New York

ACO welcomes audience members to choose to experience this performance at a public gathering space, as an intimate concert in a private home, or as a fully digital event. $5 reservation ($20 suggested donation)

1. Concert Hall: New Canons at DiMenna Center 🎫 [Buy Now]
2. Private Home: New Canons in Murray Hill (address provided upon reservation) 🎫 [Buy Now]
3. Virtual Event: Virtual New Canons 🎫 [Buy Now]

Streaming link provided 24 hours before event.Doors open at 2:00pm. Music will begin promptly at 2:15pm.This concert is co-presented by ACO and Groupmuse FoundationAbout the PartnersGroupmuse is an online platform that has connected musicians to audiences since 2013 in living rooms, outdoor backyards, and other untraditional concert spaces. Groupmuse is a worker-owned cooperative and has presented more than 700 online concerts in support of musicians impacted by COVID-19. groupmuse.comThe Groupmuse Foundation is a parallel nonprofit dedicated to expanding classical music to be more inclusive and vibrant by empowering musicians through financial, technological, and career support. groupmuse.orgAll audience members will be required to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 with a vaccine authorized by the World Health Organization or the Food and Drug Administration and must maintain appropriate face coverings in accordance with current CDC guidelines. We have capped attendance at 50% seating capacity at DiMenna Center's Cary Hall, and have arranged for a flexible, distanced seating arrangement. Learn more here.

ACO's Compose Yourself classes help young composers develop their creativity and learn professional standards in a supportive, hands-on environment; the program has a strong record of preparing students for the rigors of college and beyond. Five college students who have been part of Compose Yourself classes over several years will present original works at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music.Featured Composers:Che BufordAustin CelestinMarisol EstrellaCooper MyersJonah MurphyTherese RubiFeatured Musicians:Jonah Murphy, fluteAaron Haettenschwiller, oboeAlexander Parlee, clarinetsAlexander Davis, bassoonCameron West, french hornWayne Dumaine, trumpetBen Herrington, tromboneJohn Ferrari, percussionChing-Chia Lin, pianoLeah Asher and Mia Smith, violinsLev Zhurbin, violaTyler J Borden, celloEvan Runyon, double bassAll audience members will be required to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 with a vaccine authorized by the World Health Organization or the Food and Drug Administration and must maintain appropriate face coverings in accordance with current CDC guidelines. Learn more here.

Friends and Family is a chamber concert that features ACO musicians performing works by a broad array of composers, many of whom are near and dear to the orchestra.PROGRAMSTEVEN GERBER: Five Greek Folksongs (after Ravel)AUGUSTA GROSS: Towards NightALVIN SINGLETON: Argoru VIIIKAREN LEFRAK: Daybreak; WhenMELINDA WAGNER: Unsung ChordataEDWARD THOMAS: ReflectionsJONATHAN BAILEY HOLLAND: MobiusROBERT BEASER: SouvenirsAll audience members will be required to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 with a vaccine authorized by the World Health Organization or the Food and Drug Administration and must maintain appropriate face coverings in accordance with current CDC guidelines. We have capped attendance at 50% seating capacity at Cary Hall, and have arranged for a flexible, distanced seating arrangement. Learn more here.

ACO's Compose Yourself classes help young composers develop their creativity and learn professional standards in a supportive, hands-on environment; the program has a strong record of preparing students for the rigors of college and beyond. Ten high school composers who are participating in the Compose Yourself Summer Intensive Readings, focused on traditional and non-traditional ways of scoring music, will have their original works read on August 31, 2021 at 4pm at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music. A limited number of in-person tickets are available, as well as the option to stream the readings live.

Central to its values of diversity, disruption, and discovery, American Composers Orchestra partners each year with orchestras nationwide through its EarShot program (formerly the New Music Readings), which has identified and championed some of the most important rising compositional voices in the orchestral field since its founding in 1991.

To deepen the creative community around this work, the Virginia B. Toulmin Orchestral Commissions Program (formerly the Women Composers Readings and Commissions Program), an initiative of the League of American Orchestras in partnership with ACO, has commissioned three EarShot alumni each year to write a new orchestral work that is premiered by participating orchestras across the country.

Whether you are looking to discover composers new to you for your orchestra's programming, or simply share the boundless curiosity that comes with the discovery of new work, this series highlights four composers on each panel on June 23 and July 7, whose pieces have been recently premiered, or will soon premiere, as part of the program. Get to know each artist, hear recordings of their music, and catch an inside look into the relationships they've built with the orchestras that will premiere their works.

Featured composers, works, orchestras, and moderators are included below.

July 7, 2021 ModeratorsMelissa Ngan, President & CEO, American Composers OrchestraMeghan Martineau, Vice President, Artistic Planning, Los Angeles Philharmonic

Composers, Works & Partner Orchestras Julia Adolphe, Underneath the Sheen, New York PhilharmonicCindy Cox, Transfigurations of Grief, Saint Paul Chamber OrchestraStacy Garrop, The Battle for the Ballot, St. Louis Symphony OrchestraNiloufar Iravani, The Seven Valleys, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra

The Virginia B. Toulmin Orchestral Commissions Program (formerly the Women Composers Readings and Commissions Program) has created partnerships between composers and orchestras since 2014, and is embedded in EarShot, an initiative of American Composers Orchestra in collaboration with American Composers Forum, the League of American Orchestras, and New Music USA. All Toulmin Commission winners were participants of past EarShot readings. The Virginia B. Toulmin Orchestral Commissions Program is an initiative of the League of American Orchestras, in partnership with American Composers Orchestra (ACO) and supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.

ACO's Artistic Director Derek Bermel hosts an hour-long listening party of live archival recordings made from ACO performances in Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium from 1985-2012, with special guests John Adams, Laurie Anderson, Anthony Davis, Hannibal Lokumbe, Eugene Moye, and Melinda Wagner. Registrants will listen to previously unheard audio recordings of the following works:David Diamond'sSymphony No. 9. Conducted by Leonard Bernstein (November 17, 1985)Hannibal Lokumbe's African Portraits. Conducted by Paul Lustig Dunkel, ACO Co-Founder. (October 11, 1990)Earl Kim's Violin Concerto with soloist Itzhak Perlman. Conducted by Paul Lustig Dunkel, ACO Co-Founder. (February 10, 1991)Melinda Wagner's Falling Angels. Conducted by Paul Lustig Dunkel, ACO Co-Founder. (October 29, 1995)Derek Bermel's Voices with Bermel on Clarinet. Conducted by Tan Dun (May 24, 1998)Laurie Anderson's Songs for A E. Conducted by Dennis Russell Davies, ACO Co-Founder & Conductor Laureate (February 27, 2000)Frank Zappa's The Adventures of Greg Peccary. Conducted by Steven Sloane (March 2, 2003)Anthony Davis’Wayang V. Conducted by Steven Sloane (April 28, 2004)John Adams' My Father Knew Charles Ives Conducted by John Adams (April 27, 2007)Philip Glass' Symphony No. 9. Conducted by Dennis Russell Davies, ACO Co-Founder & Conductor Laureate (January 31, 2012)Following the event, full recordings will be made available to donors who give $250+ to this event. Recording links will be password-protected, hosted online, and available for on-demand streaming through August 31, 2021.Don’t miss this chance to hear previously unavailable recordings with commentary and history provided by Derek Bermel, and a chance to support ACO's work in the coming season.

ACO's Artistic Director Derek Bermel hosts an hour-long listening party of live archival recordings made from ACO performances in Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium from 1985-2012, with special guests John Adams, Laurie Anderson, Anthony Davis, Hannibal Lokumbe, Eugene Moye, and Melinda Wagner. Registrants will listen to previously unheard audio recordings of the following works:David Diamond'sSymphony No. 9. Conducted by Leonard Bernstein (November 17, 1985)Hannibal Lokumbe's African Portraits. Conducted by Paul Lustig Dunkel, ACO Co-Founder. (October 11, 1990)Earl Kim's Violin Concerto with soloist Itzhak Perlman. Conducted by Paul Lustig Dunkel, ACO Co-Founder. (February 10, 1991)Melinda Wagner's Falling Angels. Conducted by Paul Lustig Dunkel, ACO Co-Founder. (October 29, 1995)Derek Bermel's Voices with Bermel on Clarinet. Conducted by Tan Dun (May 24, 1998)Laurie Anderson's Songs for A E. Conducted by Dennis Russell Davies, ACO Co-Founder & Conductor Laureate (February 27, 2000)Frank Zappa's The Adventures of Greg Peccary. Conducted by Steven Sloane (March 2, 2003)Anthony Davis’Wayang V. Conducted by Steven Sloane (April 28, 2004)John Adams' My Father Knew Charles Ives Conducted by John Adams (April 27, 2007)Philip Glass' Symphony No. 9. Conducted by Dennis Russell Davies, ACO Co-Founder & Conductor Laureate (January 31, 2012)Following the event, full recordings will be made available to donors who give $250+ to this event. Recording links will be password-protected, hosted online, and available for on-demand streaming through August 31, 2021.Don’t miss this chance to hear previously unavailable recordings with commentary and history provided by Derek Bermel, and a chance to support ACO's work in the coming season.

Central to its values of diversity, disruption, and discovery, American Composers Orchestra partners each year with orchestras nationwide through its EarShot program (formerly the New Music Readings), which has identified and championed some of the most important rising compositional voices in the orchestral field since its founding in 1991.

To deepen the creative community around this work, the Virginia B. Toulmin Orchestral Commissions Program (formerly the Women Composers Readings and Commissions Program), an initiative of the League of American Orchestras in partnership with ACO, has commissioned three EarShot alumni each year to write a new orchestral work that is premiered by participating orchestras across the country.

Whether you are looking to discover composers new to you for your orchestra's programming, or simply share the boundless curiosity that comes with the discovery of new work, this series highlights four composers on each panel on June 23 and July 7, whose pieces have been recently premiered, or will soon premiere, as part of the program. Get to know each artist, hear recordings of their music, and catch an inside look into the relationships they've built with the orchestras that will premiere their works.

Featured composers, works, orchestras, and moderators are included below.

June 23, 2021ModeratorsMelissa Ngan, President & CEO, American Composers OrchestraAlecia Lawyer, Founder, Artistic Director & Principal Oboe, ROCO

Composers, Works & Partner OrchestrasLeanna Primiani, 1001, ROCOHilary Purrington, Harp of Nerves, Philadelphia OrchestraAndrea Reinkemeyer, Water Sings Fire, Louisiana Philharmonic OrchestraWang Jie, Symphony No. 1, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra

The Virginia B. Toulmin Orchestral Commissions Program (formerly the Women Composers Readings and Commissions Program) has created partnerships between composers and orchestras since 2014, and is embedded in EarShot, an initiative of American Composers Orchestra in collaboration with American Composers Forum, the League of American Orchestras, and New Music USA. All Toulmin Commission winners were participants of past EarShot readings. The Virginia B. Toulmin Orchestral Commissions Program is an initiative of the League of American Orchestras, in partnership with American Composers Orchestra (ACO) and supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.

Established film composers talk about the film industry and the essentials of being a film composer. ACO Artistic Director Derek Bermel moderates a panel of experts. The panel will be followed by a Q&A session with the audience.Co-presented by ACO and American Composers ForumPanelists:Terence Blanchard, composer and trumpeterKathryn Bostic, composerLaura Karpman, composerRachel Portman, composerIf you require an interpreter, closed-captioning, or any other accommodations to fully engage, please contact ACF’s Laura Krider within 48 hours of the webinar (lkrider@composersforum.org or 612.314.9228).

Join ACO for an hour-long interactive event, led by ACO-commissioned composer Lisa Bielawa, that celebrates and unlocks the creativity and curiosity that lives in each of us. Do you delight in making things up? Are you ready to explore how to spark new vitality in your life through your natural creativity? This event is for you! Please join us for a unique opportunity to energize your imagination through prompts, Surrealist games and interactive idea-making, while supporting ACO’s Sonic Spark education programs.

Lisa Bielawa is known for her participatory works including Broadcast from Home, Voters’ Broadcast and her current project, BFH Radio - Broadcast from Here. Described by The Washington Post as “spellbinding,” Broadcast from Home was realized online throughout the period of the coronavirus lockdown, featuring over 500 submitted testimonies and recorded voices from six continents. Voters’ Broadcast’s mission was to stimulate voter engagement, political awareness, and community participation in challenging lockdown conditions, through the act of giving voice to the concerns of fellow citizens, during the lead-up to the 2020 Presidential election. Bielawa is currently at work on BFH Radio, a continuous and evolving soundscape incorporating words, voices, and found audio from participants all over the world which gathers the sounds of people’s first experiments with narrowing social distance or re-engaging with formerly familiar activities, as well as their encounters with new lockdowns or new challenges, and weaves these together with musical materials.

Don’t miss this chance to create, experiment, and play with Lisa, ACO’s artistic director Derek Bermel, and the ACO community.

Photo: Lisa Bielawa's movement map for her composition Crissy Broadcast, courtesy of Bielawa

The Composer to Composer series features major American composers in conversation with each other about their work and leading a creative life. The intergenerational discussions will begin by exploring a single work with one composer interviewing the other. Attendees will gain insight to each work’s genesis, sound, influence on the American orchestral canon, and be invited to ask questions of the artists. Events will be live-streamed and available for on-demand viewing for seven days following the live event. The conversation will be hosted by ACO's Artistic Director, Derek Bermel.On May 26, Jonathan Bailey Holland talks with Alvin Singleton about his work BluesKonzert, a triple commission from 1995 by the Detroit, Houston and Kansas City symphony orchestras. Of the piece, Michael Fleming writes in the program note, "Vernacular and classical traditions have often cross-pollinated in American music, both in performance and composition. A case in point is BluesKonzert, which mixes musical bloodlines as neatly as its title does language. Konzert is a German term that can mean either 'concert,' as in a musical program, or 'concerto,' as in a work for solo instrument and orchestra. Singleton, who trained in both classical music and jazz, is perfectly positioned to exploit such ambiguities and crossovers."

Photo of Alvin Singleton by Jo Eldredge MorrisseyPhoto of Jonathan Bailey Holland by Robert Torres